Tory plans for a culture of cuts

It has taken 50 years to create a vibrant arts culture in Britain, one that is the envy of the world. It enriches the lives of millions of Britons and attracts millions more visitors from other countries. It does all this at a cost that is no more than a tiny fraction of the national budget.

We appeal to the government not to slash funding to the arts and heritage. It risks destroying this remarkable and fertile landscape of culture and creativity, and the social and economic benefits it brings to all. We recognise that cuts and efficiencies are necessary, but the 25% or more funding cuts being considered will sabotage Britain's unparalleled achievements in this area.

It will have a particularly damaging impact on smaller-scale museums and galleries and those in the regions. Many of us had our first inspiring encounters with art in these places. Radical cuts to the arts would force hundreds of them to close or drastically curtail their programmes. This will undermine not only the present health of our cultural life, but its future development, and will help ensure that one of our country's greatest success stories is brought to a crashing and abrupt end.

• George Osborne enjoined everyone to "think the unthinkable" in contemplating the reduction of the national deficit. But the auguries of the imminent government spending review all suggest that the cuts will fall disproportionately upon those already most economically disadvantaged. Here are seven proposals that, if Osborne is in earnest, ought to be on the table as potential major savings.

1: Abandon the role of policeman to the planet. David Cameron has already committed a further £6bn to the unwinnable war in Afghanistan.

3: Slash the military budget. Why are there still 23,000 British soldiers stationed in Germany, for which privilege Britain pays Germany £1.3bn annually?

4: Close the tax loopholes. Simplify the codes. Put exemptions on a sliding scale. Introduce a swingeing tax on bonuses. End tax exile by following the US and taxing without reference to either the location of the earner's domicile or the country of the income's origin.

5: Close down the jails. Only those shown to constitute an actual danger to the public need be incarcerated.

6: Put a new tax on alcohol, smoking materials and fast and processed foods, ringfenced for the NHS to fund the treatment that those who use these products will require in later life. Impose a service charge on anyone detained by police or assisted by paramedics while under the influence of alcohol. Tax food packaging.

7: Cancel the Olympics. Let a nation that already has the facilities take them over while there is still time to organise it.

Go on, George. Think.

W Stephen Gilbert

Corsham, Wiltshire

• If Ian Birrell thinks slashing public service budgets will help improve services to people like his severely disabled daughter (The kindest cuts of all, 1 October), he only needs to look at the US to be disabused. Despite what the Conservatives have always maintained, public services are not inherently inefficient, but years of so-called reforms, continuous restructuring and top-down interference, combined with virulent attacks on public sector workers, have seriously damaged morale in the sector and virtually destroyed a vital public service ethos. Private companies are in the business to make profits, not "to serve the public", and profits can only be made at the expense of workers and those in need of care. If governments would allow those who work in and believe in public services to run them, we would have an efficient system.